LOC13:10
10:10 GMT
GAZA, Feb 10 (KUNA) -- The Israeli Army has warned current general calm
along the borders with Syria "is deceptive" and internal escalating violence
in the neighboring country might eventually spill over to the region and
threaten Israel's security
This calmness might rapidly change, due to the current civil war the
country is witnessing, while it has always been tranquil during Bashar
Al-Assad's ruling, the Yediot Ahronot daily quoted military sources as saying
on Sunday.
The sources indicated that despite (the Israeli) air strike on a Syrian
Army convoy on Syrian territories some 10 ago, which foreign media sources
affirmed was carried out by the Israeli Air Force, the Israel-Syria border is
actually the quietest among the Jewish state's borders. But IDF (Israel
Defence Forces) officers fear that may soon change, Yediot Ahronot quoted the
same sources as saying.
The border stretches some 80 kilometers from Mount Hermon in the north to
the border junction with Jordan in the south.
The frontier lush region was recently disturbed by echoes of the bloody
civil war ripping through Syria, and while the sounds of war have somewhat
"faded in the area," the IDF knows that the calm will not last for much
longer, the newspaper said.
"Growing unrest in Damascus and President Bashar Assad's continuous
attempts to blame the West in general and Israel in particular for the
violence plaguing the country, has translated into growing agitation; and the
volatile climate means one thing - a terror attack against Israeli targets in
the area is only a matter of time," the daily added.
The immediate area adjacent to the Syrian side of the border is home to
villages that have become "brimming with terror activity over the past two
years," it said.
Assad's loose grip on the area has made it safe for terror operatives to
seek refuge there; and thousands of them from Islamic and Jihad-affiliated
groups are believed to be on the ground, it said. (end)
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